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THE ACADEMIC EXPERTS BRIEF FOR THE WTO GMO DISPUTE: a summary
An international team of scholars of science, technology and society from the US and UK has submitted an Amicus Curiae brief to the WTO disputes resolution panel on the Biotech Products (EC: Measures affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech products) case. The Brief
- draws the WTO’s attention to major recent developments, modifying the conventional understanding of risk assessment, particularly concerning GMOs;
- analyses relevant recent WTO case law, developments in risk assessment practice, and international legal and social scientific literature;
- suggests that the charge of ‘undue delay’ directed at the EU is unwarranted;and
- urges that the role of the WTO disputes panel should be one of reviewing the procedural adequacy of executive decision-making processes in the various jurisdictions involved, rather than one of arbitrating on the substantive merits of the individual risk assessments themselves.
The background to the WTO GM dispute
Biographical details of the academic expert authors
The full Amicus Curiae Brief (PDF, 318 kb)
Adjudicating the GM Food Wars - article in Yale Law Review (PDF, 307 kb)
The expert academic group:
- Lawrence Busch is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University.
- Robin Grove-White is Professor of Environment and Society at Lancaster University.
- Sheila Jasanoff is Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
- David Winickoff is Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
- Brian Wynne is Professor of Science Studies and a member of the Centre for the Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics at Lancaster University.
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